Dodge flexes some serious muscle with latest SRT

The 2015 Challenger SRT is the first production car in history to get a supercharged HEMI engine and the result is 707hp and 650lb-ft of torque.

hat makes the car not only the most powerful Dodge Challenger ever, it also makes it the most powerful ‘stock’ muscle car in history.

The HEMI Hellcat engine is already a handful when it is not being force fed air via a supercharger. Its 6.2 liters of displacement and eight cylinders offer well over 450hp and very good low-end torque.

But by adding a blower, Dodge’s engineers have managed to build something that has enough leg room and luggage space for a family vacation but has more horsepower under the hood than a Ferrari 458 Italia or a McLaren MC 12.

All of that power will be delivered to the rear wheels via a new TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic transmission so that should help harness and control some of those horses.

However, Dodge is clearly concerned that it may have created a monster, so the new Challenger is also the first car in the company’s history to come with two key fobs — one black and one red — that are programmed to unlock different performance characteristics.

When the car is started via the black fob, power is limited to 500hp but when the red fob is in action, all hell will break loose.

It might sound like a gimmick but knowing that the engine’s capabilities can be remotely limited might give owners the confidence to let a teenage son borrow it, albeit briefly.

The new 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT will be arriving in US dealerships in the third quarter of 2014.